Isle of Rum and Isle of Skye, Scotland
The less-than-pleasant weather for which Scotland is renowned was nowhere to be seen today as we explored two beautiful islands in the Inner Hebrides. At our morning stop at the Isle of Skye we split into 2 groups, with the first hiking into the rugged valley of Loch Scavaig, below the steeply-rounded peaks of the Black Cullen mountains. While some of us squelched our way through the boggy valley admiring the 600-meter peaks above, the rest of us took a Zodiac cruise through the still waters of the bay. And, while many lovely birds and scenic vistas were enjoyed, the highlight was undoubtedly our sighting of numerous common seals as they lay resting on the coastal rocks. By early afternoon we had relocated to the nearby Isle of Rum where we again had a choice of activities. Kayaking in the calm waters of the bay proved popular, but many also opted for a viewing of Kinloch Castle, the large manorial home of the island’s previous owner. After a busy day and a fair amount of sunburn, we were all relaxing back on board when Naturalist Brent Houston ruined our anecdote-swapping and cocktail hour by spotting a large beast in the water ahead. The ship turned to investigate and we soon found that we had an excellent opportunity to view the remarkable feeding behaviour of the world’s second-largest fish – the basking shark. The 3 individuals we saw measured about 8 meters (26 feet) in length and they pretty much ignored us as they busily sifted small planktonic animals from the water’s surface. They do this by swimming slowly along with their enormous mouths wide open and it’s no exaggeration that a slim person could easily fit inside. But basking sharks don’t eat animals as big as people, and so posed no threat to us. The white area in the picture shows the open mouth and gill slits as the shark swims toward the bottom of the photo.
The less-than-pleasant weather for which Scotland is renowned was nowhere to be seen today as we explored two beautiful islands in the Inner Hebrides. At our morning stop at the Isle of Skye we split into 2 groups, with the first hiking into the rugged valley of Loch Scavaig, below the steeply-rounded peaks of the Black Cullen mountains. While some of us squelched our way through the boggy valley admiring the 600-meter peaks above, the rest of us took a Zodiac cruise through the still waters of the bay. And, while many lovely birds and scenic vistas were enjoyed, the highlight was undoubtedly our sighting of numerous common seals as they lay resting on the coastal rocks. By early afternoon we had relocated to the nearby Isle of Rum where we again had a choice of activities. Kayaking in the calm waters of the bay proved popular, but many also opted for a viewing of Kinloch Castle, the large manorial home of the island’s previous owner. After a busy day and a fair amount of sunburn, we were all relaxing back on board when Naturalist Brent Houston ruined our anecdote-swapping and cocktail hour by spotting a large beast in the water ahead. The ship turned to investigate and we soon found that we had an excellent opportunity to view the remarkable feeding behaviour of the world’s second-largest fish – the basking shark. The 3 individuals we saw measured about 8 meters (26 feet) in length and they pretty much ignored us as they busily sifted small planktonic animals from the water’s surface. They do this by swimming slowly along with their enormous mouths wide open and it’s no exaggeration that a slim person could easily fit inside. But basking sharks don’t eat animals as big as people, and so posed no threat to us. The white area in the picture shows the open mouth and gill slits as the shark swims toward the bottom of the photo.
